Buffalo Sabres Hudson Fasching’s First NHL Goal

Fasching scores first NHL goal for Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres rookie forward Hudson Fasching can now check two items off his “bucket list” after Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

First and foremost, Fasching made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres that afternoon, just a few short days after signing an entry-level contract with the team.

Within the first 20 minutes of the game, Fasching also scored his first NHL goal on a beautiful play from start to finish.

With that, why not revisit the goal just *one* more time?

First came fellow newcomer Casey Nelson, a Buffalo Sabres defenseman who also made his NHL debut on Saturday.

Nelson had some great work along the boards to help spring the puck free. The play eventually got the puck to Fasching, which eventually led to the goal.

If you’d like to take another look at Nelson’s work in the play, check out this Tweet from the Buffalo Sabres.

Following that play, Matt Moulson had the puck. Fasching eventually picked it up and took it up the ice, alongside the boards into the other end.

That piece of the play included his overpowering Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba.

Fasching essentially circled around Trouba, making the Jets defender fall in the process, and easily got away from him while still holding onto the puck.

He then cut across in front of the net, where a scramble of players were already housed, including Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mark Pysyk, who was effectively tying up Mark Stuart.

Despite the scramble of players, or perhaps because of it, Fasching was able to shove the puck in the net alongside Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson.

With that, the Buffalo Sabres rookie notched his first NHL goal.

Here’s another look at the goal, this time an overhead view. This other perspective allows us to see more closely how Fasching managed to get the puck through the scramble and into the net.

The overhead portion starts around the 44-second mark of the video below.

Finally, here’s Fasching and Nelson talking about the goal:

Overall, it may not have been a spectacular game for the Buffalo Sabres rookie. He played just 12:02 throughout sixty minutes, including a measly four minutes in the first period and an even less-impressive 2:01 in the second.

More from Sabre Noise

• 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
• 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
• Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
• Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
• Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects

But in the end, he got his first NHL goal, and it was a beauty. If he can provide more of that in the future, well, it’ll be a good one for the Buffalo Sabres rookie and the team as a whole.

With the goal, Fasching became the first Buffalo Sabres player to score on his first NHL shot since Zemgus Girgensons did it back in 2013.

He also became the second Buffalo Sabres player to score in his debut this season, joining Jack Eichel.

Next: Reinhart Leads Weekly Stars

What would you like to see from the Buffalo Sabres rookie in the rest of the season and years to come?

I can tell you the first thing: I’d like to see him get more ice time. Buffalo Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma said Fasching was “infectious” with the energy he brought, and I think that’s certainly something the Buffalo Sabres could use some more of.